The Brand behind the Box

The history of the wok box.

In an interview with Mr. Sean Beatt the founder of The Wok Box and his son Zen Beatt, we were able to learn so much about the history of the Brand and the man responsible for it.

Mr. Sean Beatt aged 51, spent his teen years working as a waiter in his parents prestigious restaurant ‘The Colony”. Back in the 1980’s The Colony was rated as one of the Top 5 restaurants in South Africa (Beatt, 2017).

Being inspired by the business and having a willingness to serve and create delicious meals for patrons Mr. Beatt went on to study under the great Christina Martin (during her very first course and class in Durban) and qualified as a Chef.

During a vacation in London soon after his graduation Mr. Beatt met and fell in love with beautiful Miss Premjit a Thai national. They courted while living in Cape Town and Premjit loved to frequent the very first Thai restaurant in South Africa – Hermanus. Mr. Beatt then too fell in love with the food and culture which inspired him (Beatt, 2017).

With a real love for the Thai culture and cuisine Mr. Beatt returned to Durban with his new bride and started up the restaurant “Baanthai” in Florida road. Baanthai at the time was the very first Thai restaurant in Durban and only the second one in South Africa (Beatt, 2017).

Building up a steady reputation and loyal customer base after 8 years of success Mr. Beatt opted to sell the restaurant and start a brand new franchise that became the beloved Bangkok Wok.

The Bangkok Wok franchise spanned over a period of 17 years, with 15 restaurants scattered around Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg.

Restaurants were opened and closed at different times in different locations. However there came a spike and suddenly areas within South Africa were saturated with Asian food restaurants. Sushi restaurants were becoming more and more popular and in 2011 Mr. Beatt made the difficult decision to completely shut down the franchise and its 15 stores (Beatt, 2017).

Mr. and Mrs. Beatt have two children, a son named Zen aged 23 (qualified Chef and owner of SW1) and a daughter named Jordan aged 20 and currently studying at Vega school of brand leadership, who has also just also opened up a business called MILK, a thai- influenced massage studio. The family agrees that with their blending of culture and Country their restaurant business has helped them to Celebrate and share Thai culture, design, feel, elements and cuisine as represented in their stores.

In 2012 Mr. Beatt moved away from the food industry and tried his hand at a completely new prospect that was a skate shop called the “Stick Shift”. During this year Mr. Beatt felt his true calling was being ignored and this saw the leap into the year 2013 and the opening of The Wok Box in bustling Durban North.

Enjoying the success of the Wok Box Mr. Beatt went on to extend and open an adjacent Japanese restaurant called the Green Parrot specializing in tapas style foods in 2015 and also further the business by opening up the SW 1 in partnership with his son Zen Beatt at the Flanders Mall Mount Edgecombe in 2016. The Wok Box and its sister companies are family owned and a great amount of pride and care is injected into their business practice.

The core values, vision and mission:

The mission- as stated on The Wok Box Facebook page,

“At The Wok Box, we have dedicated ourselves to making sure our Thai Food Woks!”

Their core values – Never say never, Work hard, Teamwork is key and always Put the customers needs first.

They do not have a clear vision as they have had to change and adapt over the years. Mr. Beatt followed his passion and did what came naturally to him. In the early years it was important firstly to keep their business afloat and then to focus on growing it. There was no strong emphasis placed on branding and innovating or having clear set strategies, vision, mission and goals. However as they are evolving as a business and service offering Mr. Beatt has entrusted Avidity to assist in formulating and articulating his dreams and strategic vision for his Business entities.

Their product and service offering –

The Wok Box specializes in Authentic Thai food. The chefs are Thai nationals and strict adherence is kept in regard to sourcing the finest, freshest ingredients and making certain the standard of flavors and foods are always above and beyond customer expectation.

While they are best known and loved for all their Thai dishes. The signature dishes such as the crispy fried Duck and WOK BOX Beach salad are huge crowd pleasers says Zen Beatt, Seans son (Beatt, 2017).

The service rendered by the staff of The Wok Box is also part of the package. Avidity sat down to coffee with restaurant Manager Gift who was happy to chat to us about the daily workings of managing the restaurant and ensuring that customers were kept happy and satisfied.

Avidity also opted for a sweet experience during our last store visit and indulged in the Crispy chocolate nutella spring rolls served with a side of coconut custard. An absolute treat and served with a smile.

Their business organogram, being a small and efficient restaurant The Wok Box is owned solely by Mr. Beatt (Beatt, 2017). Mpho Mokuene “Gift” manages the restaurant as shown below

Their success and failures –

The Wok Box is a highly successful restaurant. Enjoying the patronage of many loyal customers (Beatt, 2017). They are shop 10.D 8-12 in the bustling Mackeurtan Avenue in Durban North. Despite being located among different trendy restaurants such as the popular Rocco Mamas, The Wok Box still draws a regular full crowd and full house especially over the weekend(Beatt, 2017) .

The Wok Box are successfully delivering in service and food and are rated as 4.7 out of 5 stars from the 75 reviews on their facebook page.

Trip advisor rates The Wok Box as being number 72 out of 582 restaurants in Durban and also affords them a 4 star rating from 47 reviews.

While delivering in experience and ambiance created by the minimalistic furniture and design of the restaurant, the lighting and hand made frames and art work crafted by Mr. Beatt himself, Avidity saw a point of interest to help formulate a possible food delivery system.

We noticed that orders were placed over the phone and customers would arrive later on to collect. Avidity are suggesting creation of a website for The Wok Box. Paid promotion of the restaurant via social media feeds like facebook, instagram and twitter and to also create more awareness of the amazing service offering.

Why we have selected it –

We have chosen the Wok Box for many reasons. Among them the fact that we share a love for travel, culture and good food a company such as Wok Box brings home to South Africa such a unique and authentic culinary experience. Their food is always delicious and enjoyable and while they are so popular around Durban we felt they could surly enjoy a boost in their marketing efforts. We share a friendship with members of the founding family and were given the green light to go ahead and delve into the makings and bettering of the brand.

Bibliography:

- Beatt, S. (2017). The Wok Box.

- Beatt, Z. (2017). The Wok Box.

- Mokuene, M. (2017).The Wok Box.